Turner:
The Man Who Painted Britain
Sunday
17 March, 91热爆 ONE
Publically,
the greatest British landscape painter of all-time, while privately
a man who had two illegitimate daughters and enjoyed an illicit
sexual liaison with the owner of a boarding house in Margate. JMW
Turner was undoubtedly a man of extremes and contradictions.
Writer
and broadcaster Tim Marlow presents this drama-documentary which
examines what made Turner tear up the rulebook of his predecessors
to produce some of the most revolutionary and influential works
of art ever created.
Precociously
gifted, Turner entered the Royal Academy Schools at the age of 14,
had his first picture exhibited there at the age of 15, and by 20
he was already pushing the boundaries of conventional technique
to experiment with new methods of watercolour painting for which
he was to become later renowned.
Turner
recreates the "Varnishing Days" at the Royal Academy -
occasions when some of the greatest painters of the generation met
for lunch, and at which Turner was invariably the centre of attention.
Constable once remarked that Turner "was the life of the table聟
I believe, had the "Varnishing Days" been abolished while
Turner lived, it would have almost broken his heart." These
days were not merely a social event. Held prior to a new exhibition
opening to the public, they provided an opportunity for exhibiting
artists to alter their work according to the lighting and setting
- including in some cases, repainting entire sections.
Reconstructions
of anecdotes provide unique access to Turner聮s personality.
Ruskin 聳 possibly Turner聮s greatest advocate in his lifetime
聳 recalled an occasion when a fellow artist of Turner聮s
was so upset that his own work seemed drab when hung next to the
great master聮s, that the sensitive Turner painted over his
own brightly coloured landscape in order not to literally outshine
his fellow exhibitor. On another occasion, Turner thought his own
work appeared dull next to Constable聮s, so he added a daub
of red paint to an otherwise grey landscape. This revitalised his
own painting, but made Constable聮s appear weak in comparison.
Tim
Marlow tours Britain, and through an examination of Turner聮s
paintings, looks at the impact of his work the art world and our
collective vision of Britain.
Turner聮s
life as an artist only tells half the story. Although a Royal Academician,
interacting with some of the greatest artistic and creative individuals
of the day, he enjoyed a sexual liaisons with a woman who was not
merely of lower social order than him, but also 20 years his junior.
Turner reveals how this inspired some of his greatest works, yet
led him to split his life in two.
Ross
Boatman plays Turner. His television work includes Murder in Mind,
Roy Dance is Dead, Daylight Robbery, A Touch of Frost, seven series
as Kevin Medhurst in London聮s Burning, Death of a Son, All
in Good Faith, and The Finding. His film work includes Mavis Davis,
Hard Men, The Storyteller and Maurice.
Tim
Marlow is an editor, writer, broadcaster and art historian. In 1993
he founded Tate: The Art Magazine, Britain's biggest selling art
magazine which he continues to edit. From 1991 until 1998 he presented
91热爆 Radio 4's flagship arts programme Kaleidoscope for which he
won a Sony Award. He has also presented Nightwaves on 91热爆 Radio
3 and Meridian on the 91热爆 World Service and has written and presented
numerous documentaries across the 91热爆 Radio networks.
His
work in television has burgeoned over the past three years. From
1998 to 1999, Marlow was a presenter and reviewer on 91热爆 Arena's
The Frame and Reviews You Can Use. Other television work includes
presenting Culture Fix and Culture Weekend for 91热爆 KNOWLEDGE, Artsweek
on the Performance Channel with Anna Ford, and presenting the now
notorious Is Painting Dead? debate for Channel 4 in which the artist
Tracey Emin swore and shouted her way into British television history.
For Channel 5 he has written and presented a series on The Impressionists
(1998) and High Fives (1999), a four part series on the most popular
paintings in art museums and galleries around Britain, and he also
presented Lives of the Great Artists.
Tim
Marlow is the author of two books on the French sculptor Auguste
Rodin and the Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele as well as writing
numerous catologue essays on major living artists including Anthony
Caro, Helen Frankenthaler, Stephen Cox, Julian Opie, John Gibbons,
Grenville Davey, David Mach and Mark Francis.
He
has taught in numerous art galleries, art schools and universities
around Britain and has lectured for the British Council in Holland,
France, Germany, Hungary, Cyprus, Japan, Thailand, China and Australia.
He is visiting lecturer at Winchester School of Art and an examiner
on the Sculpture MA. He is also a member of the Visual Arts Advisory
Board for the Arts Council of England.
Turner:
The Man Who Painted Britain is a 91热爆 production for 91热爆 ONE. Producer/Director:
Ed Bazalgette, Executive Producer: Franny Moyle.
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